Lent 2024: Week Six - Could We Start Again, Please? (Philippians 2: 6-11)

When you write a Blog with your own name in the title, like The GregCast, it’s fair to wonder if its very presence indicates a lack of humility. This is to say that I tend to use myself and my stories as a launching pad into breaking open a theme. Six weeks ago, I opened this series reflecting on my own need to fashion the “golden calf” that would convince me that I was heading in the right direction when I was actually far off the path. My “idol” was me and the way I wanted to travel. In the subsequent weeks that followed, leading up to this part in the series, I’ve offered that my lines were blurred, and my soul was not at rest. I was comfortable with just staying put on a mountain top of sorts or safe within a “comfortable darkness” when the Lord asked me to give up everything and follow him. 

I've been living to see you
Dying to see you
But it shouldn't be like this
This was unexpected
What do I do now?
Could we start again, please?

I've been very hopeful, so far
Now, for the first time
I think we're going wrong
Hurry up and tell me
This is just a dream
Or could we start again, please?
(“Could We Start Again Please?” from Jesus Christ Superstar)

In the musical Jesus Christ Superstar, the character representing Mary Magdalene offers us a chance to dwell on the honest surprise of what’s involved in being called by the Lord. Our initial YES comes with a level of excitement of just being included in the mission of Jesus. His Way seems to offer many answers to the questions that bother us so. But then comes the shock of knowing what it’s going to take to stay on this journey and grow into the Disciple that we seem to want to be.

On this Palm Sunday we recognize the Lord’s entry into Jerusalem and the beginning of Holy Week. The gate is wide open, and many are gathered to welcome the Christ that they’ve heard all about. They have their own fashioned expectations of who he is and what he brings. For them, he has come to set them free. He has come to give them power. He has come to win the personal and political war that has raged on for generations. This is it! Jesus Christ, “The Superstar” is here! They wave their branches, hailing their king. But the road through Jerusalem narrows as it leads to a cross, and one by one, his followers step off the path. They scatter out of fear. One betrays him and one denies him… And the rest of us just step aside.

As I enter Holy Week of 2024, I have to be honest. The past year and half of my own life has been very difficult. The Lord said to me many times, “give up everything and follow me!” And I fought it. The “everything” in this case does not mean “riches,” nor does it mean my role in the Church. No. The “everything” that I am referring to are those challenges listed above; the almost truths, the various “golden calves”, the comfortable dark, and the focusing on my way verses God’s Way. With that said, I must recognize that I have spent over three decades working for the Church, and I am confident that the Lord has placed me here to make a difference; and I know that His love flows through my work on a daily basis, BUT in the face of “giving up everything,” I repeatedly asked the Lord this question:. “You’ve called me to serve you 24/7… Can’t I just have an hour to myself every now and then?”

THE ANSWER IS “NO!”

This Lenten journey is not just about giving up something, it’s been about giving up “everything” and accepting all that He has to give, for the Lord is all we need and we must embrace that we are loved!

So help us see ourselves, Lord, as you see us and guide us through these last major steps on our journey to know you and serve you!